Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 12.djvu/143

Rh or the women of the Revolution of '76 ever utter nobler sentiments of patriotism than this humble Southern woman whose fame deserves to be celebrated with that of "the mother of the Gracchi?"

Another boy in the same company and regiment was a fit representative of a large class. When the war broke out, George Haner was an orphan working in a carriage factory at Louisa Court House, Va. He not only owned no slaves, but it was not likely that he ever would, and some might have said: "This is none of Haner's fight. Why should he go into it? " But George was an intelligent, well-informed secessionist, and when at noon on the 17th of April, 1861, the Louisa Blues received their marching orders, he was the first man ready to march, as he was ever afterward prompt in the discharge of duty. The boys called him "eccentric" ' at first and laughed at his oddities. One of his "eccentricities" was that he always carried his Bible in his haversack and read it as he had opportunity. But when on the memorable field at Cold Harbor and Games' Mill, June 27, 1862, the heroic regiment at one time faltered under the terrific fire (they carried into that fight 306 men and lost 175, killed and wounded) and seemed about to fall back, the color-bearer being shot down, Haner grasped the flag, rushed to the front, calling on the men to rally to their colors and firing their valor so that they swept on to victory ; then they saw that George Haner was a true hero in a fight, and changed their laughter into praise. He was thenceforth known and honored for his conspicuous gallantry. Another simple incident illustrates his noble character: Down at Petersburg, in February, 1865, the regiment held a position south of the Appomattox, and the opposing lines were so close together at that point that it was almost certain death to expose one's self for even a minute. One day when I was looking through a porthole at the enemy in blue, who seemed only a few feet away, a sudden gust of wind blew off my hat and landed it